Aimoer leaned down, a happy smile on her lips, her tail wagging gently behind her.
In Senteli’s puzzled and uneasy gaze, she simply pressed a light kiss to her forehead.
The hand she’d slipped under the covers didn’t grope around—she just flipped the blanket, put her gloves back on from the nightstand, grabbed Senteli’s hand, and pulled her up.
‘Just kidding, if I made a move now, wouldn’t that be suicide?’
‘With such a thick blanket barely holding back the Holy Light’s burn, even if I did make a move, there’d be no fun in it.’
‘Better to wait until I find a way to completely remove the Holy Light’s influence, then slowly devour her using my succubus methods.’
“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. Get up, the tea’s getting cold.”
Aimoer patted her head, blew on the tea, and handed it to her.
“Hurry up and try it. The tea from this fancy hotel is definitely something special.”
Aimoer herself took a big gulp.
Too bad she didn’t have enough ingredients on hand—otherwise she could’ve made tea jelly with sweet milk, and that would’ve been absolutely top-tier.
Senteli lifted the cup and took a small sip.
Her face was bright red, and she didn’t say anything—just kept sipping, her eyes looking a little vacant.
‘No way, it was just one kiss, so why does she look like she’s been drained dry?’
Aimoer touched her own lips, utterly astonished.
‘So a succubus’s kiss has such a strong effect. If only my past self had this ability…’
‘Seeing her like this, I feel like I’ve done something really bad.’
‘Will the Church’s Holy Guard break in any moment and arrest me for defiling the Saintess?’
Aimoer waved a hand in front of her face, startling Senteli so much she nearly dropped the cup.
“Wah, El, is there something wrong?”
Senteli looked up at her with a guilty expression, like she’d done something wrong.
“Nothing. Is the tea good?”
“It’s good…”
Senteli took another big gulp.
The flush on her face faded a little.
Holding the cup, she stole glances at Aimoer, a hint of conflict in her eyes.
“Um, El, it’s getting late. I should go back…”
“Mm, want me to walk you out?”
Senteli twisted her fingers.
After a moment of hesitation, she shook her head.
“No… it’s fine. I’ll go back myself. Thank you, El, for bringing me to a place like this. I’ve never… seen these things before.”
With that, Senteli stood up, bowed to Aimoer, made the sign of the cross on her chest, and ran off.
Aimoer watched her figure gradually disappear from sight, feeling that her mood had shifted a little too quickly.
“Sigh, it shouldn’t have lowered favorability, right? I only kissed her once, and not even on the lips.”
Aimoer pinched her fingers, gently closed the door, and tossed and turned on the bed.
“Ah, I’ll buy her a small cake tomorrow. After all that effort to succeed, I can’t let it all go to waste.”
She nodded, thinking that was definitely the right idea.
Then she hugged the blanket and took a deep sniff, feeling instantly refreshed.
‘The Saintess’s scent is so fragrant.’
Aimoer’s tail wagged happily as she hugged the blanket, cherishing this rare moment of indulgence.
The next day at 7:00 AM.
Aimoer, half-asleep with a slice of toast dangling from her mouth, carrying a small paper bag, arrived at the military camp.
Among the crowd, she immediately spotted Senteli, who was resting with her eyes closed.
Aimoer stuffed the whole piece of toast into her mouth, jogged over to Senteli, and shoved the paper bag into her hands.
“Here, something tasty.”
Senteli opened her eyes groggily.
Looking at the bag in her arms, she broke into a pure, innocent smile.
“Ah, thank you, El.”
Her smile was still so clean, as if nothing had happened last night.
“Stay safe later on. If you can hide in the back, do so. Don’t get hurt.”
“Heehee, I know. You too, El. The vanguard is dangerous, right? You have to come back safely.”
Senteli stood up as she spoke, made the sign of the cross on her chest, and closed her eyes to chant some blessings.
Finally, she stood on tiptoe and patted Aimoer’s head.
“Alright, a blessing for you. May your journey go smoothly.”
“Mm, smooth travels.”
Aimoer felt like an old general on a stage, with all sorts of flags planted behind her back.
‘I hope she doesn’t accidentally bless me to death.’
Aimoer shuddered inwardly, but still smiled and thanked Senteli.
‘Forget it, I’ve come this far. What’s there to worry about? Even if I die, it’ll be for the nation, something worthy of the history books.’
Thinking this, she picked up a silver spear that felt comfortable in her hand and walked toward the vanguard’s formation.
At that moment, the City Lord was giving a speech at the front, but Aimoer didn’t listen to a word.
‘Anyway, on the battlefield, as long as I show real skill, someone like him will drop his prejudices in an instant.’
She stood at the very back of the line.
While he was still speaking, she stared at the red tassel on her spear and gently flicked it around, playing with it, until a loud shout reached her ears.
“March!”
Two and a half hours later, Aimoer arrived with the army at the entrance of the Mining Town.
She gripped her spear tightly and secretly felt the parchment in her pocket—it was still lying there quietly.
Only after hearing the order from the vanguard’s leader did they quickly split into several squads and infiltrate the Mining Town.
Aimoer was assigned to the squad covering the west district.
She looked over the Mining Town from a distance.
Through the dense forest, she could clearly see the spire of the Church.
Decades ago, when the world was still shrouded in the shadow of the Apocalypse, she had seen heretic-occupied towns a few times.
Blood, violence, and…
Aimoer shook her head, took a deep breath, and stopped thinking about that terrifying scene.
Her gaze swept over the town.
For some reason, an intense unease rose in her heart.
‘Did something dirty sneak in again?’
Aimoer deliberately slowed her pace, gradually falling to the back of the group.
‘Either way, I need to find a chance to slip away, so I can reasonably reveal the parchment Ouluola gave me.’
She pulled a small bag of sugar from her pocket, poured it into her mouth, and licked her lips.
“How about we split up? Too many people makes it hard to stay hidden. We’ll regroup at the town center.”
She quickly walked to the front of the line, lacing her voice with a hint of charm, and made the suggestion to the squad leader.
Sure enough, the squad leader agreed almost without thinking.
Ordinary people like him couldn’t detect or resist this kind of charm spell.
Taking this opportunity, Aimoer ducked alone into an alley and hurried toward the Church.
Silence.
As she ran through the dark lanes of the Mining Town, that word suddenly popped into Aimoer’s mind.
It was a bit exaggerated, but it was truly the most fitting word for the town’s current state.
Not a shred of life.
Aimoer even caught a powerful scent of blood.
She slowed down and carefully distinguished the source.
The smell of blood—one stream came from the Central Square, the other from the direction of the Church.
‘Something’s wrong, very wrong.’
A chill ran through Aimoer’s heart.
This town was the complete opposite of the heretic towns she’d seen during the Apocalypse.
In a normal heretic town, even if there was a smell of blood, it wouldn’t appear so utterly lifeless.
‘What the hell happened?’
Aimoer kept running, following the scent of blood until she reached the Church entrance.
It still looked sacred, faintly radiating a trace of Holy Light, but the streaks of blood seeping from beneath the door seemed to announce to any visitor—
[Death God Within, Mortals Do Not Enter]
Her unease grew even stronger.
Aimoer swallowed hard, tightened her grip on the spear, thought for a long moment, and finally decided to push the door open.
‘No matter what, the success or failure of the mission hinges on this.’
‘I cannot back down.’